Lamborghini Factory Driver, Scot Sandy Mitchell bags top two Euro double at Hockenhiem with Collard and Barwell.

July 22, 2024

Sandy bags top two Euro double at Hockenheim with Collard and Barwell.

Lamborghini factory driver Sandy bagged a pair of top two finishes in the latest double-header in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup at Hockenheim in Germany. Partnered by team-mate Rob Collard in their No78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2 prepared by Barwell Motorsport and backed by Dama Fortuna Tequila, the 24-year-old from Forfar was delighted by the strong performance over the weekend.

“We knew in the build-up to the races that we had a fast car capable of fighting it out at the front of the Bronze Cup field,” Sandy, who won the British GT Championship with Collard in 2020, stated. “And that proved to be the case.”

In the opening 60-minute sprint race, Sandy started from second place in the ultra-competitive Bronze Cup field before handing the car to Collard. who brought the Lamborghini home in a strong second place. In the second of the 60-minute races, Collard began from fifth on the Bronze Cup grid before dropping to seventh after avoiding an incident just ahead of him on the opening lap.

Having eased himself back to sixth, the 32-car field was bunched up after 20-minutes following a Safety Car period. A lap after the race went green again with 34-minutes remaining, all the Bronze cars — apart from the #78 Lamborghini — made their compulsory pitstop. With a clear track ahead of him, Collard immediately set personal best sectors before pitting to hand the car over to Sandy. Swift work by the Barwell pitcrew, allied to Collard’s fast lap meant the Scot rejoined the field second in the Bronze Cup.

“It was a terrific strategic call by the team to keep Rob out,” Sandy, personally-backed by Huntly-based Black Bull Scotch Whisky and Tunnocks, explained. “That allowed him to post a quick in-lap, then the crew did a fantastic job at the pitstop to get the car back out in second place.”

Sandy, whose fastest lap of 1min 39.599secs on the 2.84-mile circuit deep in the forests of the Rhine Valley was the quickest of any Lamborghini driver in Race 2, then delivered a series of fast times to consolidate another second place.

“This was our strongest performance in Europe so far this season,” Sandy, who saw the result move the duo to third in the Bronze Cup series standings, continued, “and it was fantastic to finish on the podium twice. Now we’ll build from this for the rest of the year and target the top step of the podium.”

Sandy returns to action this weekend (July 27/28) when he tackles the latest round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, the three-hour race at the Nurburgring.

“This was our strongest performance in Europe so far this season,” Sandy, who saw the result move the duo to third in the Bronze Cup series standings, continued, “and it was fantastic to finish on the podium twice. Now we’ll build from this for the rest of the year and target the top step of the podium.”

Sandy returns to action this weekend (July 27/28) when he tackles the latest round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, the three-hour race at the Nurburgring.